The technical field of the present invention is the treatment of natural and artificial materials, and more specifically involves the use of dyes and antibiotics as binding agents for the adherence of preselected molecules to surfaces of natural or artificial materials useful in medical prostheses and in the fabric industry.
The use of artificial or processed natural materials in medical devices and prostheses implanted in the body, or placed in contact with body components, or placed in contact with medicants to be introduced into the body, often poses problems such as, for example, infection in the presence of prosthetic materials, or lack of long term thromboresistance. Thus, the surfaces of medical devices have been treated in an effort to enable or enhance their proper functioning. For example, implantable vascular prostheses made of artificial materials have been treated with biologically active molecules having thrombolytic, anticoagulating, thrombogenesis-inhibiting, and/or platelet inhibiting abilities so as to improve on their thromboresistance (see, e.g., Salzman et al. (1987) in Hemostasis and Thrombosis: Basic Principles and Clinical Practice. 2nd Ed., (Colman et al., eds. , Lippincott Co., Phila., Pa., pp. 1,335-1,347; Kusserow et al. (1971) Trans. Am. Soc. Artif. Intern. Organs 17:1); and Salyer et al. (1971) Medical Applications of Plastics, Biomed. Materials Res. Sym. Gregor, ed.) No. 1 pp. 105).
The attachment of biologically active molecules to artificial substances has proven in many instances to be difficult. For example, the attachment of various thrombogenesis inhibitors directly to solid surfaces in many instances does not result in a stable adherence or long term blood compatibility. Furthermore, the biological activity of the molecule may be compromised by virtue of the mode of attachment.
Therefore, what is needed are new or improved methods of adhering molecules of interest to material surfaces which result in a stable linkage and little loss of activity.
One method of improving on the longevity and effectivity of the linkage is to bind the biologically active molecule to a base coat layer on the material surface, where the base coat layer includes a component having multiple attachment sites available to the biologically active molecule (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,019,393 and 5,126,140). By way of example, the base coat layer may be adhered to a synthetic material surface either before or after a thrombogenesis inhibitor is linked to the base coat.
The attachment of other molecules to the surfaces of artificial and natural materials, such as extruded or fibrous substances, is also of general interest. For example, materials treated with antibiotics, growth factors, or cytokines would have many uses in the fields of medicine and basic research.
Alternatively, the treatment of woven fabrics with molecules that impart color, or dyes, is useful to the textile industry. A dye is a compound that can be fixed on a substance in a more or less permanent state and that evokes the visual sensation of a specific color or hue.
In the textile industry it is often the dye, itself, which imparts the desired characteristic, i.e., color, to the fabric. While direct attachment of the dye may be useful, it is often desirable to impart other and/or additional characteristics to the fabric which are not directly provided by the application of known dyes. Such characteristics may include sheen, fluorescence, sparkle, hydrophobicity, an hydrophilicity.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of stably adhering molecules of interest to natural and synthetic materials such as extrudates, woven fabrics, and other materials.
Another object of the invention is to provide a treated material to which any number of molecules-of-interest can be stably adhered.
Yet another object is to provide biocompatible synthetic or natural materials useful for implantable and extracorporeal devices or for extracorporeal devices in contact with body tissues or fluids.
Still another object is to provide a molecule-of-interest stably adhered to a fixed support.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description, drawing, and claims that follow.